Clear edges, plumb LBWs: Afghanistan miss out on 3 dismissals vs India in Mullanpur

India vs Afghanistan: Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant survived clear-cut dismissals as poor decision-making and poor umpiring hurt Afghanistan in the one-off Test match in Mullanpur. Despite bowling well in the morning session, Afghanistan were not able to pile up pressure on India.

In Short

• India and Afghanistan are playing a one-off Test in Mullanpur
• Afghanistan repeat their mistakes on Day 2
• Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant survived on back to back balls

A horror two-minute passage in the morning session of Day 2 saw Afghanistan slip further behind in the one-off Test against India in Mullanpur. Poor decision-making and a terrible use of the Decision Review System (DRS) meant that the visitors failed to dismiss India captain Shubman Gill and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant early on Sunday.

Afghanistan, who had already let KL Rahul off the hook on Saturday by failing to review an outside edge, repeated their mistakes against Gill and Pant. The incident took place in the 89th over of the match, when Azmatullah Omarzai was bowling a spirited spell with the new ball.

IND vs AFG Live Updates: One-off Test Day 2

Azmat, who has maintained an excellent line and length throughout the Test, trapped Gill plumb in front of the stumps. The entire Afghan side went up in unison, but the umpire was not convinced enough to raise his finger. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi looked towards wicketkeeper Asfar Zazai, who himself did not appear convinced.

The issue perhaps was that the ball struck Gill's pad twice - glancing off the front pad before crashing into the back one. That may have led the Afghans to wonder whether Gill had edged the ball into his pads.

However, the DRS replay showed that Gill was plumb in front, with the ball projected to crash into the top of middle and leg stump. Gill, who had already scored a century in the Test, survived while batting on 108.

The delivery was eventually recorded as a leg bye.

On the very next ball, Azmat came around the wicket and produced an exceptional outswinger to Pant. The wicketkeeper-batter, probing outside off stump, appeared to edge the ball through to the keeper. Once again, Afghanistan appealed in unison and once again were denied a wicket.

Yet, inexplicably, Afghanistan chose not to review.

When the replay was shown on the giant screen, Afghanistan batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz was seen expressing his frustration, questioning why his captain and wicketkeeper had not opted for the review.

The dismissal however did not hurt Afghanistan a lot. A spirited spell from Saleem Safi saw the back of Shubman in now time, with the captain returning to the dug out after scoring 126 runs. Safi also dismissed Dhruv Jurel with a terrific setup, which saw the batter shoulder his arms to a delivery that crashed into the top of his off stump.

Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, lost his patience and skied a delivery from Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi. Pant fell short of his hundred and was dismissed for 81 runs.

At Lunch on Day 2, India are still in a strong position having scored 475 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.

- Ends